Perpetual memoire

ABSTRACT

Among other things, an intelligent automated proxy for an party who wants to communicate a multimedia message about a life event an integrated, conversational manner using natural language dialog to a second party and provides information from which the life event, the communication, the manner of delivery, the future time, and the recipient can be determined.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser.No. 61/790,789, filed Mar. 15, 2013, the contents of which areincorporated here by reference.

This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/489,210, filed Jun. 5, 2012; and to U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/650,941, filed Oct. 12, 2012; and to U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/715,517, filed Dec. 14, 2012, the entire contents of all three ofwhich are incorporated here by reference.

BACKGROUND

This description relates generally to social network environments, moreparticularly, to systems and methods for efficient and effective searchfin and communication of life history information to present and futuregenerations.

SUMMARY

In general, in an aspect, a method includes maintaining firstinformation characterizing a person; receiving second informationindicative of contents of a message to be delivered to a recipient onbehalf of the person, an identity of the recipient, and a delivery timefor delivery of the message; and delivering the message to the recipientat the delivery time, including conducting a natural languageinteraction with the recipient on behalf of the person based on thefirst information characterizing the person.

Implementations may include one or a combination of any two or more ofthe following features.

The message includes a multimedia message.

Delivering the message includes delivering the message using a digitalrepresentation of the person. The method includes generating the digitalrepresentation of the person based on the first informationcharacterizing the person. The digital representation of the personincludes a representation of one or more of the following: a voice ofthe person, a behavior of the person, and an appearance of the person.

Conducting a natural language interaction includes responding to aquestion or statement from the recipient. Responding to the question orstatement from the recipient includes responding to the question orstatement with a natural language response. The method includes forminga response to the question or statement based on the first informationcharacterizing the person.

The method includes generating the message based on the firstinformation, the second information, or both.

The second information includes a specification of the identity of therecipient.

The second information includes a specification of a relationshipbetween the person and the recipient.

The method includes identifying the recipient based on the secondinformation indicative of the identity of the recipient.

The second information includes a specification of the delivery time.

The second information indicative of the delivery time includes anidentification of an event. The second information indicative of thedelivery time includes a definition of a condition for occurrence of theevent.

The method includes identifying the delivery time based on the secondinformation indicative of the delivery time.

The second information includes a specification of the contents of themessage.

The method includes determining the contents of the message based on thesecond information indicative of the contents of the message.

The contents of the message include autobiographical information aboutthe person.

The second information is indicative of a manner of delivery of themessage.

The person is not alive or not competent at the time when the message isdelivered.

The recipient is not alive or not competent at the time when the secondinformation is received.

The method includes receiving at least some of the first informationcharacterizing the person from the person. Receiving the firstinformation comprises: presenting a question to the person and receivingan answer to the question from the person. Receiving the firstinformation includes conducting a natural language interaction with theperson.

The method includes obtaining at least some of the first informationcharacterizing the person from an automated analysis of publiclyavailable online information.

The first information characterizing the person includes informationabout one or more of the following: a voice of the person, a behavior ofthe person, and an appearance of the person.

The first information characterizing the person includes informationabout a time period during which the person lived.

The first information characterizing the person includesautobiographical information about the person.

In general, in an aspect, a method includes receiving first informationcharacterizing a person and second information indicative of an identityof a recipient and conducting a natural language interaction with therecipient using a digital representation of the person that is generatedbased on the first information, in which the person is not alive or notcompetent when the natural language interaction is conducted.

Implementations may include one or a combination of any two or more ofthe following features.

Conducting the natural language interaction includes conducting thenatural language interaction based on the first information.

The method includes determining a context of the natural languageinteraction based on the first information. The context of the naturallanguage interaction includes a time at which the natural languageinteraction is to be conducted, a style of the natural languageinteraction, or both.

The method includes determining a content of the natural languageinteraction based on the first information. The content of the naturallanguage interaction includes autobiographical information about theperson.

The digital representation of the person includes a representation ofone or more of the following: a voice of the person, a behavior of theperson, and an appearance of the person.

Conducting the natural language interaction includes responding to therecipient.

The method includes determining a response to the recipient based on thefirst information.

The method includes identifying the recipient based on the secondinformation.

The recipient is not alive or not competent when the second informationis received.

In general, in an aspect, a system includes a storage device formaintaining first information characterizing a person; and an analyticsengine for receiving second information indicative of contents of amessage to be delivered to a recipient on behalf of the person, anidentity of the recipient, and a delivery time for delivery of themessage, and delivering the message to the recipient at the deliverytime, the analytics engine configured to conduct a natural languageinteraction with the recipient on behalf of the person based on thefirst information characterizing the person.

Implementations may include one or a combination of any two or more ofthe following features.

The analytics engine is configured to generate a digital representationof the person for display on a user interface.

The analytics engine is configured to respond to a question or statementfrom the recipient with a natural language response.

The system includes a communication engine configured to identify therecipient based on the second information.

In general, in an aspect, a system includes a communication engine forreceiving first information characterizing a person and secondinformation indicative of an identity of a recipient; and an analyticsengine for conducting a natural language interaction with the recipientusing a digital representation of the person that is generate based onthe first information. The person is not alive or not competent when thenatural language interaction is conducted.

Implementations may include one or a combination of any two or more ofthe following features.

The analytics engine is configured to generate the digitalrepresentation of the person for display on a user interface.

In general, in an aspect, information is received information from whichat least one of the following can be derived: content of a message to bedelivered from a first party to a second party about a life event, amanner of delivery of the message, a future time when the message is tobe delivered, and the recipient of the message. The, on behalf of thefirst party, an integrated, conversational multimedia message isautomatically formed that is to be part of a natural language dialogwith the second party.

Implementations may include one or a combination of any two or more ofthe following features.

The integrated, conversational multimedia message is automaticallyformed by an intelligent proxy on behalf of the first party.

The integrated, conversational multimedia message is formed to beresponsive to natural language communication of the second party. Theintelligent proxy enables a user to interact with online services toobtain information related to the message.

The automatic forming of the message includes imbuing a digitalsurrogate with qualities associated with the first party, the manner ofdelivery of the message, the time of delivery of the message, or therecipient of the message.

The information is received interactively. The information is receivedinteractively by and interrogation avatar.

The information is received in the form of images, video, voice, orbehavioral gestures of the party from whom the messages to be delivered,or combinations of any two or more of them.

The message is formed to provide an answer to a conventionally askedquestion.

The natural language dialog includes an interactive obituary or adigitized hid history.

In general, in an aspect, digital information is maintained that enablesthe formation of an interactive digital surrogate of an originatingperson based on digital audio or video information derived from theoriginating person. At a time when the originating person is not aliveor otherwise not available, the digital surrogate is caused to engage ina natural language dialog with a receiving person who is determined onthe basis of information that had been provided by the originatingperson.

Implementations may include one or a combination of any two or more ofthe following features.

The context of the natural language dialog is determined based oninformation that had been provided by the originating person. Thecontext includes the time of the natural language dialog or the style ofthe natural language dialog.

In general in an aspect an intelligent automated proxy for an individualis implemented on an electronic device, to facilitate user interactionwith the individual's life story in an integrated, conversational mannerusing natural language dialog. In an aspect the intelligent automatedproxy is programmed to enable the individual to more effectively engagewith local and remote services to obtain information and perform variousactions at future times.

These and other aspects, features, implementations, and advantages, andcombinations of them, can be expressed as methods, apparatus, systems,components, program products, business methods, and means or steps forperforming functions, or combinations of them.

Other features, aspects, implementations, and advantages will becomeapparent from the description, the drawings, and the claims.

DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is a flowchart for developing an intelligent avatar for lifehistory recording, transformation, and publishing in digital interactiveformat.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for imparting advance directives to a intelligentsurrogate for execution at a future time.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a social network or other system.

FIG. 4 is a view of an editing interface for avatar construction andsurrogate development.

FIG. 5 is a view of an editing interface for entering surrogatedirectives.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an Analytics Engine.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a Communication Engine.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a Notification Engine.

FIG. 9 is a view of the recipient interface.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart for delivering presentations.

FIG. 11 is flowchart for delivering gifts.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart for managing an event directive.

Devices that are in communication with each other need not be incontinuous communication with each other, unless expressly specifiedotherwise. In addition, devices that are in communication with eachother may communicate directly or indirectly through one or moreintermediaries.

A description of an embodiment with several components in communicationwith each other does not imply that all such components are required. Tothe contrary, a variety of optional components are described toillustrate the wide variety of possible embodiments of the invention.

Further, although process steps, method steps, algorithms or the likemay be described in a sequential order, such processes, methods andalgorithms may be configured to work in alternate orders. In otherwords, any sequence or order of steps that may be described in thispatent application does not, in and of itself, indicate a requirementthat the steps be performed in that order. The steps of describedprocesses may be performed in any order practical. Further, some stepsmay be performed simultaneously despite being described or implied asoccurring non-simultaneously (e.g., because one step is described afterthe other step). Moreover, the illustration of a process by itsdepiction in a drawing does not imply that the illustrated process isexclusive of other variations and modifications thereto, does not implythat the illustrated process or any of its steps are necessary to theinvention, and does not imply that the illustrated process is preferred.

When a single device or article is described, more than onedevice/article (whether or not they cooperate) may be used in place of asingle device/article. Similarly, where more than one device or articleis described (whether or not they cooperate), a single device/articlemay be used in place of the more than one device or article.

Techniques and mechanisms described or reference herein will sometimesbe described in singular form for clarity. However, particularembodiments include multiple iterations of a technique or multipleinstantiations of a mechanism unless noted otherwise.

The system described here enables members of a community of users on anetwork to imbue a surrogate, which is matched in digital appearance,voice, and manner, with their personal knowledge, expertise anddiscernment in order to carry out the user's directives and intent atsome predetermined future time. For example, a senior user with accessto a social media network to embed his life story in digital formattogether with a personalized digital avatar to present that life storyor portions thereof in response to natural language questions and usingan intelligent surrogate to act on the senior's behalf to carry out thesenior's directives in the future after the senior dies or becomesincompetent.

FIG. 1 shows the conceptual framework 100 of the interaction of thesystem with the Principal Person 102 for extracting and transforming alife history. The Principal Person 102 logs onto the system and answerssome standard identification questions, 104, so the system aided by theAnalytic Engine 106 can search for relevant internet accessibleinformation on the individual and events that occurred during hislifetime found in external data sources 106A or currently in internaldata sources 106B. The system then progresses to collecting answers, 108to autobiographical questions, which cover aspects usually published ina biographical note or obituary article. To assist the Principal Person102 in answering the questions and to be consistent with the historicalrecord, the system aided by the Analytic Engine 106 assembles materialfrom internal data sources 106B or internet accessible data sources 106Aabout the Principal Person 102 or the events and presents thatinformational material along with the questions. The image of thePrincipal Person 102 along with his verbal answers are collecteddigitally by the system 108. The system the progresses to more personal,individual questions presented by an Interrogation Avatar during asession of Elaboration 112 with whom the Principal Person 102 is relaxedand comfortable. The Interrogation Avatar, which is generated by theAnalytics Engine 106 using techniques similar to those for LivingActor™and can be selected by gender, age, ethnicity, voice type and othervariables, is programmed with natural language understanding similar tothat of Apple's SIR1 or Nuance Communications Systems' NuanceInteractive Natural Assistant (Nina™), and exhibit a number ofbehavioral expressions as do those avatars of LivingActor™ in responseto the answers of the Principal Person 102. This Elaboration 112 ofautobiographical information then uses a third set of open-endedquestions presented by the Interrogation Avatar to elicit life stories,such as those recorded by StoryCorps, covers more personal topics, suchas “What is you earliest memory?”, “Who was your favorite teacher?”“What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?”, “What was it like growingup in [neighborhood, city, region, wartime, depression]? The Elaboration112 using the Analytic Module 106 can interactively expand upon thequestions along the lines of Weizenbaum's ELIZA program but in a moresophisticated manner guiding the Principal Person 102 there a series oflife experiences. The responses of the Principal Person 102 are recordeddigitally both in terms of voice, and three-dimensional appearance withbehavioral gestures.

The system aided by the Analytic Engine 106 then creates a surrogate ofthe Principal Person 102 consisting of an avatar of the Principal Person102 linked with the personal knowledge of the Principal Person 102 andthe ontology of his world at that point in time. The avatar of thePrincipal Person is generated using the digitized three-dimensionalvideo image of the Principal Person 102 parsed into behavioralexpressions employed to morph the avatar's image, for example, facialexpressions of the Principal Person 102 using software such as that ofFaceShift.com and employing the Principal Person's voice to generate theavatar's voice in pitch and other sound attributes using articulatorysynthesis and a database of speech units, which may amount to a billionor more for responding to arbitrary questions but some life stories orjokes may be recorded and used in their entirety

The accuracy of the Surrogate Transformation is assessed 114 by thePrincipal Person 102 or a Second Person. The Principal Person 102 or aSecond Person then interrogates the system's Surrogate of the PrincipalPerson using a script of frequently asked conventional questions. Ifthere are gaps or errors the process iterates until the performance ofthe Surrogate of the Principal Person reaches a predetermined level ofcorrectness in terms of this limited Turing Test.

As a result of the training and testing, the system enables theSurrogate of the Principal Person 102 to answer general and specificquestions by means of an Avatar matching in appearance, voice, mannerand gesture the Principal Person 102 and by means of the Analytic Module106 equipped with a digital representation of the transformed personalknowledge in the form of an ontology covering the lifetime of thePrincipal Person 102 using the techniques described by Gruber et al.(U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/987,982, filed Jan. 10, 2011, thecontents of which are incorporated herein by reference) to include anautomated assistant receiving user input; an active ontology withrepresentations of concepts and relations among concepts drawn fromvarious databases of historical data and a language interpreter parsingthe questioner's input to derive a representation of questioner's intentin terms of the active ontology.

Using the Communications Module 110 and the Analytic Module 106 thetransformed representation of the Principal Person 102 is edited 116 forparticular formats and audiences then communicated 118 when appropriateto that audience 120. So the Surrogate of the Principal Person can beused to generate an interactive obituary, a digitized life history inthe Story Corps sense or as a published autobiography using the bookassembly techniques of Parker (Philip M. Parker, U.S. Pat. No. 7,266,767B2, Sep. 4, 2007 Method and Apparatus for Automated Authoring andMarketing, which is incorporated by reference) or serve in place of thePrincipal Person 102 at a memorial service or at subsequentanniversaries or on special occasions.

It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that theframework described may be practiced using only voice communication ortext communication and or more broadly for expertise in various domains.For example, a business may wish to deploy the expertise of one of itsemployees to several remote location simultaneously interactively or inthe form of a manual or multimedia-based expert system.

FIG. 2 shows the conceptual framework 200 for the entering and executionof advance directives for future actions. The Principal Person 102 logsin to his account for Identification 204, to access identificationinformation and all the information known or inferred by the AnalyticModule that has been collected, organized and transformed into anintelligent personal assistant that can act as a Surrogate when thePrincipal Person 102 becomes incompetent. The advance directives enablethe system acting as the Surrogate of the Principal Person to composeand deliver messages, to purchase gifts and arrange for their deliveryto living persons specifically identifiable at the time the directiveswere entered or to persons unborn or not yet part of the social network;and to convene and organize social gatherings to similarly chosenguests. The Principal Person 102 initiates directives with a process ofSelection 206 of the occasion or event chosen from a set provided by theAnalytic Module 106. then a Designation 210 of the person or persons tobe contacted and using the Notification Module specifies a future dateof Notification 214 or a means to determine a future date to benotified. When the system detects the said date has occurred theCommunication Module 110 aided by Analytic Module 106 initiated aNotification 216 of the person or person previously selected and managecarrying out the directives 218. For example the system with the aid ofthe Analytic Module 106 which can access an ontology of future time, candetermine the birthday of selected individuals, analyze with the aid ofthe Communication Module 110 their preferences from their profiles thencontact a vendor for a suitable gift and arrange for its delivery. Insome embodiments, the Analytics Engine acts as a surrogate of aPrincipal Person 102 to generate responses (e.g., messages, and/ordelivery instructions) based on historical data specific to theRecipient 220. For instance, the Analytics Engine may be configured asdescribed by Gruber et al. (U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/987,982,filed Jan. 10, 2011, the contents of which are incorporated herein byreference) and by Basea-Forte et al U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/492,809 to include an automated assistant receiving user input; anactive ontology with representations of concepts and relations amongconcepts drawn from various databases of historical; and a languageinterpreter parsing the publisher user input to derive a representationof Principal Person's intent in terms of the active ontology togetherwith a services orchestration to output responses and instructions toimplement the Principal Person's intent.

It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that theframework described may be practiced for more than communicatingmultimedia messages at future times, delivering gifts to relatives orfriends on future occasions, or organizing future meetings andpresentations. For example, a business in the event of an emergency maywish to deploy the expertise of one of its employees to several remotelocations simultaneously interactively or in the form of a manual ormultimedia-based expert system.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary configuration of a system 300 for embodiment ofthe present invention. The Principal Person 102 by means of hiscomputing device 306, which is connected to the Internet 302, is enabledto generate a representational Surrogate imbued with his personalknowledge and capable of discerning his intent for executing directivesfor future actions. The Internet 302 further connects to the AnalyticEngine 106, the Communication Engine 110, the Notification Engine 208and the services of a Vendor 310. These engines and services draw upinternet-accessible databases on the network 304, which include the dataand relationship supporting the lifetime ontology of the PrincipalPerson 102 as well as the present and future ontologies in which thedirectives of the Principal Person 102 will be carried out. Thecommunications, interactive presentations and directives of thePrincipal Person 102 are targeted at internet-enabled Recipients 312.

FIG. 4 shows an exemplary embodiment of the Editing Interface 400presented to the Principal Person 102. The internet-accessible computingdevice 402 is a means of presenting an Avatar 410, which can be theinterrogating avatar for interactively collecting life historyinformation from the Principal Person 102 or the avatar of the PrincipalPerson to testing determine if the system surrogate has met apredetermined criterion of correctness. The Window Title 404 indicatesthe stage of surrogate development. The website URL is noted by 406. Thevideo start button 408 can be clicked or commanded verbally to start thesessions. When the system surrogate has met the predetermined criterionof correctness the Principal Person 102 can proceed to set up directivesfuture actions.

FIG. 5 is a view of an editing interface 500 for entering surrogatedirectives. The internet-accessible computing device 502 is a means ofpresenting an Avatar of 510 to receive instructions by natural languagedialog for executing future actions. The Windows title 506 indicates thetype of directive being edited. The website URL is indicated by 504. Aprogress bar 508 indicates the steps completed and still to be completed

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the Analytics Engine 106 of the system 300.The Analytics Engine 106 facilitates identifying notification triggerevents for significant event persons, curating an appropriate messageupon notification, then publishing or delivery of communications inresponse to a significant event on behalf of Principal Person 102 byinferring information about the person described in the communicationitem from one or more data sources or determining or inferring milestoneevents for the recipient user 314 or for the person described in thecommunication item, among other things. The person described in thecommunication item may be the intended reader of the communication item,the publisher of the communication item, both the reader and thepublisher, or neither the reader nor the publisher.

A predictive analytics module 602 in Analytics Engine 106 applies searchalgorithms and forecasting models stored in a search and forecastingmodels library 606 to analyze present and/or historical subject userdata in view of data stored in a database 608 containing data related toidentify milestone events and to suggest appropriate media messages oritems for a reader user. The predictive analytics module 602 implementsa variety of forecasting techniques beyond simple algorithms, such asfuture date calculation, including statistical techniques such asmachine learning (e.g., as applied by IBM's Watson computer), gametheory, and data mining, to analyze current and historical data todetermine significant event triggers for notification, to makepredictions about future readers, to identify communication mediamessages, and to identify appropriate delivery times and methods, amonga wide variety of other analyses and algorithms. For example in the caseof an autobiographical communication item of a grandfather (thepublisher user), the reader user is the projected offspring of a currentmember in the system but the publisher user may incapacitated at thetime of publication and delivery or both. By a computer-implementedmethod, data relevant to the publisher user may be extracted from hisprofile in the system 300 and/or generated implicitly based, at least inpart, on the publisher user's stored profile together with historicaldata by a predictive analytics algorithm based on historical data. Basedon the extracted or generated data, a significant event is identified,content for a communication is selected, appropriate reader users areidentified, and/or other analysis is performed, in some cases withoutinput from the publisher user.

In some examples, Analytics Engine 106 may use data specific to a userto identify potential milestone events (e.g., to identify a bar mitzvahdate for a child based on the child's birth date or to identifyappropriate religious holidays based on the user's specified religiousaffiliation or a prevailing religion in the region where the userlives). In some cases, the predictive analytics module 602 may alsoincorporate present or historical data or both to identify relevantinformation for the communication subject or reader user or both thatare in keeping with preferences of the publisher user. In otherexamples, the Analytics Engine 106 analyzes publically available sourcesof information and/or private sources of information to which it hasaccess, including, e.g., social networking facilities, online or mobileperiodicals such as newspapers or magazines, and websites, to identifythe occurrence of significant events associated with the reader user orwith the person whom the communication is about. For instance, theAnalytics Engine 106 may analyze trade journal websites to set upcriteria so the Notification Engine 208 can identify when a targetperson receives an award or a promotion.

A display module 504 of the Analytics Engine 106 may display thesignificant events of an individual of interest a reader user or anotherindividual specified by the publisher user) on a webpage belonging to oraccessible by the publisher user. These events with associated actionscan be selected for notifications stored in the Notification Engine 208.In some embodiments, upon notification by the Notification Engine, theAnalytics Engine 106 may automatically communicate messages of asignificant event relevant to a reader user, such as a birthday, to theCommunication Engine 110, which sends the notices to relatives of thereader user, who can act as publisher users. The Analytics Engine 106may use information about a reader user found in various databases todetermine when to send out the notices.

In some embodiments, the predictive analytics implemented by theAnalytics Engine 106 incorporate the robust, optimizing forecastingtechniques of Pinto et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 7,499,897, issued on Mar. 3,2009; U.S. Pat. No. 7,562,058, issued on Jul. 14, 2009; U.S. Pat. No.7,725,300, issued on May 25, 2010; U.S. Pat. No. 7,730,003, issued onJun. 1, 2010; U.S. Pat. No. 7,933,762, issued on Apr. 26, 2011; U.S.Pat. No. 8,165,853, issued Apr. 24, 2012; U.S. Pat. No. 8,170,841,issued May 1, 2012; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/826,949,filed Apr. 16, 2004, the contents of all of which are incorporatedherein by reference), that manage historical data using missing values,which must be inferred.

The Analytics Engine 106 can act as a surrogate for the Principal Person102 by specifying communications, goods, and services or any othercommunication items for placement into storage. Provided the potentialreader user 314 is registered in the system 300, the CommunicationEngine 110 will determine the location of the reader user, e.g., by GPStracking or similar means. The reader user's interests and status may beavailable in the reader user's profile, which, taken together withhistorical data, enable the Analytics Engine 106 utilizing inferencesfrom missing data, if necessary, to determine an appropriate gift toaccompany the message and an optimal time for delivery. The deliverytime is selected by a predictive analytics algorithm, based onhistorical data specific to the reader user.

In some embodiments, the Analytics Engine 106 acts as a surrogate of aPrincipal Person 102 to generate communication items (e.g., messages,sympathy tribute selections, and/or delivery instructions) based ondata, e.g., historical data, specific to the reader user. For instance,the Analytics Engine may be configured as described by Gruber et al.(U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/987,982, filed Jan. 10, 2011, thecontents of which are incorporated herein by reference) to include anautomated assistant receiving user input; an active ontology withrepresentations of concepts and relations among concepts drawn fromvarious databases of historical data (for instance, for the case inwhich the publisher user is the agent of a corporation, the corporatepersonnel database may be referenced); and a language interpreterparsing the publisher user input to derive a representation of publisheruser intent in terms of the active ontology together with a servicesorchestration to output responses and instructions to implement thepublisher user's intent. By a computer-implemented method, data relevantto the reader user may be extracted from his profile, generatedimplicitly based, at least in part, on the reader user's stored profilewith the system together with historical data by a predictive analyticsalgorithm based on historical data, and/or obtained from publicallyavailable or privately accessible information sources. Based on theextracted or generated data a communication is selected, generated, anddelivered, in some cases without input from the publisher user.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram 700 of a Communication Engine 110 of thesystem 300. The Communication Engine 110 facilitates identification of asignificant event person along with criteria used by the NotificationEngine 208 to trigger notification of the curator for composing amessage, publishing or delivery of communication items) for a PrincipalPerson 102 by providing, information about a reader user's physicallocation, profile interest information, and/or affinity information. Insome examples, the location, interest, and affinity and other currentand historical information may be displayed by a display module 704 on awebpage belonging to or accessible by the publisher user. Thecommunication engine 110 includes a affinity database 702 for storingsignificant event person and reader user affinity information and areader location database 710 for storing the physical location of areader user. The reader location database 710 may receive data relevantto the location of a reader user from a GPS translation module 706 ormay obtain the reader user's location from the Analysis Engine'sanalysis of websites or other sources of information. For example, thepublisher user may have composed a sympathy note regarding an individualkilled in an accident; the Communication engine determines that the nextof kin is traveling in another country and thus likely to be reachableby email but not by phone.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram 800 of a Notification Engine 208 of the system300. The Notification Engine 208 facilitates publishing or delivery ofcommunications for a Principal Person 102 by detecting significantevents of interest to the Principal Person 102 as listed in a data file802. For example, a publisher user may be notified about the death offriend by means of a search module 804 supported by a parsing andinterpretation library 808. The publisher user may then compose andpublisher or deliver a sympathy message to the friend's family. In someexamples, information the individual whose significant event has beendetected (referred to here as the tracked individual) may be displayedby a display module 806 on a webpage belonging to the publisher user.The Notification Engine 108 may also display the tracked individual'sprofile within the system 300 for confirmation of the individual'ssignificant event.

FIG. 9 is a view 900 of a recipient interface. The internet-connectedcomputing device 902 enables a multimedia display that shows an Avatarof the Principal Person 910 programmed to deliver answers to naturallanguage inquiries using the detailed knowledge of the Principal Person102 previously collected, curated and transformed.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart of an example process 10001 for communicating amultimedia message in the system 300. In the process 1000, a PrincipalPerson 102 has directed his surrogate with an occasion and an specificaudience (Step 1002). The Surrogate using the Communication Engine (110)requests the profiles of the audience members (Step 1004). The AnalyticEngine then provides event constraints for the communication (Step1006). Using the Notification Engine 208 there is a pause for the firstquestion of request (Step 1008). When the question or request isreceived the intent is determined by the Analytic Engine (Step 1012) andthe response is prepared (Step 1014). The Communication Engine using theSurrogate Avatar delivers the communication (Step 1016). Then there is apause for follow-up (Step 1018) and the cycle repeats until theNotification Engine 208 determines the presentation is complete. Thenthere is a closure of the presentation (Step 1020). The audience may begiven the opportunity to acknowledge receipt and confirm delivery andeven reply to the Principal Person 102 or to his proxy.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of an example process 1100 for distributing agift or tribute in the system 300. In the process 1100, a PrincipalPerson 102 has selected or set up a directive to select a recipientperson (Step 1102) and a particular life cycle event (Step 1104) andusing the communication engine for profile of the person and analyticengine for predictive forecasting a gift or tribute is chosen (Step1106). Then there is a pause (Step 1108) but at the appropriate date asdetermined by the notification engine (208) (Step 1110) the recipient islocated by means of the communication engine (110) (Step 1112) using thecurrent recipient profile for location (Step 1114). Under the directivesthe system makes arrangement with a vendor (Step 1116) using theanalytics engine (106) for vendor selection (Step 1118) and deliverytime selection (1120). The gift vendor or another vendor then deliversthe gift to the recipient (Step 1122). The recipient 314D may be giventhe opportunity to acknowledge receipt and confirm delivery and to replyto the Principal Person 102 or the publisher user's proxy.

FIG. 12 shows a flowchart 1200 of the management of an advance eventdirective planned by the Principal Person 102 The Principal Personselects the type of event to host (Step 1202) and selects the attendeeseither directly (Step 1204) or by description using profiles ifavailable (Step 1206). The Principal Person 102 then sets the date ofthe event or some triggering criterion, e.g., birthday party orgraduation party (Step 1208) and the venue directly or by description,e.g., function room at Waldorf Astoria in New York (Step 1212). Based onthe guest's profiles, the Proxy Surrogate selects the menu and catererwhich may be the regular venue caterer (Step 1214), in advance of theappropriate date or immediately after notice of the triggering event,the Proxy Surrogate of the Principal Person sends out the invitations(Step 1216) using a service such as EventBrite™ to collect RSVPs (Step1220) then confirms the appropriate venue and catering arrangements(Step 1222). Then the Proxy Surrogate arranges for anInternet-accessible telepresence display (Step 1224). On the date of theevent, the Proxy Surrogate use the telepresence display to attend theevent and greet the attendees and during the event the Proxy Surrogateinteracts with attendees. At the end of the end the Proxy Surrogatethanks the attendees, coordinates with the caterer and venue providerand shuts off the telepresence display.

As desired, the life cycle event social network may include more orfewer than the components illustrated.

The life cycle event social network is described above with reference toblock and flow diagrams of systems, methods, apparatuses, and/orcomputer program products according to examples. In some instances, thepublisher and reader users may access the social network by desktop orlaptop computers. In some embodiments, the publisher and reader usersmay access the social network by mobile devices such as smart phones. Insome embodiments, the publisher and reader users may access the socialnetwork by tablet computers or any commercial computing device connectedto the internet. In some cases, the social network may be constructed tooperate on the interact independent of existing social networks. Thelife cycle event social network may operate using existing socialnetworks, e.g., Facebook, Google+, or Yammer as platforms using existingapplication interfaces open to website developers.

Generally, the intelligent automated assistant techniques disclosedherein may be implemented on hardware or a combination of software andhardware. For example, they may be implemented in an operating systemkernel, in a separate user process, in a library package bound intonetwork applications, on a specially constructed machine, or on anetwork interface card. In a specific embodiment, the techniquesdisclosed herein may be implemented in software such as an operatingsystem or in an application running on an operating system.

Software/hardware hybrid implementation(s) of at least some of theintelligent automated assistant embodiment(s) disclosed herein may beimplemented on a programmable machine selectively activated orreconfigured by a computer program stored in memory. Such networkdevices may have multiple network interfaces which may be configured ordesigned to utilize different types of network communication protocols.A general architecture for some of these machines may appear from thedescriptions disclosed herein. According to specific embodiments, atleast some of the features and/or functionalities of the variousintelligent automated assistant embodiments disclosed herein may beimplemented on one or more general-purpose network host machines such asan end-user computer system, computer, network server or server system,mobile computing device (e.g., personal digital assistant, mobile phone,smartphone, laptop, tablet computer, or the like), consumer electronicdevice, music player, or any other suitable electronic device, router,switch, or the like, or any combination thereof. In at least someembodiments, at least some of the features and/or functionalities of thevarious intelligent automated assistant embodiments disclosed herein maybe implemented in one or more virtualized computing environments (e.g.,network computing clouds, or the like).

One or more blocks of the block diagrams and flow diagrams, andcombinations of blocks in the block diagrams and flow diagrams,respectively, can be implemented by computer-executable programinstructions. Some blocks of the block diagrams and flow diagrams maynot necessarily need to be performed in the order presented, or may notnecessarily need to be performed at all, in some cases.

These computer-executable program instructions may be loaded onto ageneral-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a processor, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a particularmachine, such that the instructions that execute on the computer,processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus create meansfor implementing one or more functions specified in the flow diagramblock or blocks. These computer program instructions may also be storedin a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablememory produce an article of manufacture including instruction meansthat implement, one or more functions specified in the flow diagramblock or blocks. As an example, embodiments may provide for a computerprogram product, comprising a computer-usable medium having acomputer-readable program code or program instructions embodied therein,said computer-readable program code adapted to be executed to implementone or more functions specified in the flow diagram block or blocks. Thecomputer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series ofoperational elements or steps to be performed on the computer or otherprogrammable apparatus to produce a computer-implemented process suchthat the instructions that execute on the computer or other programmableapparatus provide elements or steps for implementing the functionsspecified in the flow diagram block or blocks.

Accordingly, blocks of the block diagrams and flow diagrams supportcombinations of means for performing the specified functions,combinations of elements or steps for performing the specified functionsand program instruction means for performing the specified functions. Itwill also be understood that each block of the block diagrams and flowdiagrams, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and flowdiagrams, can be implemented by special-purpose, hardware-based computersystems that, perform the specified functions, elements or steps, orcombinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.

While the life cycle event social network has been described inconnection with certain examples, is the system is not limited to thedisclosed embodiments, but on the contrary, includes variousmodifications and equivalent arrangements. Embodiments of the subjectmatter and the functional operations described in this specification canbe implemented in digital electronic circuitry, in tangibly-embodiedcomputer software or firmware, in computer hardware, including thestructures disclosed in this specification and their structuralequivalents, or in combinations of one or more of them. Embodiments ofthe subject matter described in this specification can be implemented asone or more computer programs, i.e., one or more modules of computerprogram instructions encoded on a tangible non-transitory programcarrier for execution by, or to control the operation of, dataprocessing apparatus. Alternatively or in addition, the programinstructions can be encoded on an artificially generated propagatedsignal, e.g., machine-generated electrical, optical, or electromagneticsignal that is generated to encode for transmission to suitable receiverapparatus for execution by a data processing apparatus. The computerstorage medium can be a machine-readable storage device, amachine-readable storage substrate, a random or serial access memorydevice, or a combination of one or more of them.

The term “data processing apparatus” encompasses all kinds of apparatus,devices, and machines for processing data, including by way of example aprogrammable processor, a computer, or multiple processors or computers.The apparatus can include special purpose logic circuitry, e.g., an FPGA(field programmable gate array) or an ASIC (application specificintegrated circuit). The apparatus can also include, in addition tohardware, code that creates an execution environment for the computerprogram in question, e.g., code that constitutes processor firmware, aprotocol stack, a database management system, an operating system, or acombination of one or more of them.

A computer program (which may also be referred to or described as aprogram, software, a software application, a module, a software module,a script, or code) can be written in any form of programming language,including compiled or interpreted languages, or declarative orprocedural languages, and it can be deployed in any form, including as astandalone program or as a module, component, subroutine, or other unitsuitable for use in a computing environment. A computer program may, butneed not, correspond to a file in a file system. A program can be storedin a portion of a file that holds other programs or data, e.g., one ormore scripts stored in a markup language document, in a single filededicated to the program in question, or in multiple coordinated files,e.g., files that store one or more modules, sub programs, or portions ofcode. A computer program can be deployed to be executed on one computeror on multiple computers that are located at one site or distributedacross multiple sites and interconnected by a communication network.

The processes and logic flows described in this specification can beperformed by one or more programmable computers executing one or morecomputer programs to perform functions by operating on input data andgenerating output. The processes and logic flows can also be performedby, and apparatus can also be implemented as, special purpose logiccircuitry, e.g., ara FPGA (field programmable gate array) or an ASIC(application specific integrated circuit).

Computers suitable for the execution of a computer program include, byway of example, can be based on general or special purposemicroprocessors or both, or any other kind of central processing unit.Generally, a central processing unit will receive instructions and datafrom a read only memory or a random access memory or both. The essentialelements of a computer are a central processing unit for performing orexecuting instructions and one or more memory devices for storinginstructions and data. Generally, a computer will also include, or beoperatively coupled to receive data from or communication data to, orboth, one or more mass storage devices for storing data, e.g., magnetic,magneto optical disks, or optical disks. However, a computer need nothave such devices. Moreover, a computer can be embedded in anotherdevice, e.g., a mobile telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), amobile audio or video player, a game console, a Global PositioningSystem (GPS) receiver, or a portable storage device, e.g., a universalserial bus (USB) flash drive, to name just a few.

Computer readable media suitable for storing computer programinstructions and data include all forms of non volatile memory, mediaand memory devices, including by way of example semiconductor memorydevices, e.g., EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memory devices; magnetic disks,e.g., internal hard disks or removable disks; magneto optical disks; andCD ROM and DVD-ROM disks. The processor and the memory can besupplemented by, or incorporated in, special purpose logic circuitry.

To provide for interaction with a user, embodiments of the subjectmatter described in this specification can be implemented on a computerhaving a display device, e.g., a CRT (cathode ray tube) or LCD (liquidcrystal display) monitor, for displaying information to the user and akeyboard and a pointing device, e.g., a mouse or a trackball, by whichthe user can provide input to the computer. Other kinds of devices canbe used to provide for interaction with a user as well; for example,feedback provided to the user can be any form of sensory feedback, e.g.,visual feedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback; and input fromthe user can be received in any form, including acoustic, speech, ortactile input. In addition, a computer can interact with a use bysending documents to and receiving documents from a device that is usedby the user; for example, by sending web pages to a web browser on auser's client device in response to requests received from the webbrowser.

Embodiments of the subject matter described in this specification can beimplemented in a computing system that includes a back end component,e.g., as a data server, or that includes a middleware component, e.g.,an application server, or that includes a front end component, e.g., aclient computer having a graphical user interface or a Web browserthrough which a user can interact with an implementation of the subjectmatter described in this specification, or any combination of one ormore such back end, middleware, or front end components. The componentsof the system can be interconnected by any form or medium of digitaldata communication, e.g., a communication network. Examples ofcommunication networks include a local area network (“LAN”) and a widearea network (“WAN”), e.g., the Internet.

The computing system can include clients and servers. A client andserver are generally remote from each other and typically interactthrough a communication network. The relationship of client and serverarises by virtue of computer programs running on the respectivecomputers and having a client-server relationship to each other.

While this specification contains many specific implementation details,these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of anyinvention or of what may be claimed, but rather as descriptions offeatures that may be specific to particular embodiments of particularinventions. Certain features that are described in this specification inthe context of separate embodiments can also be implemented incombination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features thatare described in the context of a single embodiment can also beimplemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitablesubcombination. Moreover, although features may be described above asacting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, oneor more features from a claimed combination can in some cases be excisedfrom the combination, and the claimed combination may be directed to asubcombination or variation of a subcombination.

Similarly, while operations are depicted in the drawings in a particularorder, this should not be understood as requiring that such operationsbe performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, orthat all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirableresults. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processingmay be advantageous. Moreover, the separation of various system modulesand components in the embodiments described above should not beunderstood as requiring such separation in all embodiments, and itshould be understood that the described program components and systemscan generally be integrated together in a single software product orpackaged into multiple software products.

Particular embodiments of the subject matter have been described. Otherembodiments are within the scope of the following claims. For example,the actions recited in the claims can be performed in a different orderand still achieve desirable results. As one example, the processesdepicted in the accompanying figures do not necessarily require theparticular order shown, or sequential order, to achieve desirableresults. In certain implementations, multitasking and parallelprocessing may be advantageous.

Other implementations are also within the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: maintaining informationcharacterizing one or more of an appearance, a voice, or a behavior of aperson; receiving information indicative of (a) content that is to bepart of a message to be delivered to a recipient on behalf of theperson, (b) a relationship between the person and the recipient, and (c)a delivery time for delivery of the message, in which the content, thedelivery time, or both are not present in the received information;inferring one or more of (i) the content based on the receivedinformation indicative of the content, including inferring at least someof the content at the delivery time, (ii) an identity of the recipientbased on the received information indicative of the relationship betweenthe person and the recipient, or (iii) the delivery time based on thereceived information indicative of the delivery time; and delivering themessage to the recipient at the delivery time on behalf of the person,the message including the content, the delivering including providing acustomized natural language response to an input received from therecipient, the providing of the response comprising using a digitalrepresentation of the person generated based on one or more of theappearance, the voice, or the behavior of the person.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, in which delivering the message includes delivering amultimedia message.
 3. The method of claim 1, comprising generating thedigital representation of the person based on one or more of theappearance, the voice, or the behavior of the person.
 4. The method ofclaim 1, in which the digital representation of the person includes arepresentation of one or more of the following: the voice of the person,the behavior of the person, or the appearance of the person.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, in which providing a customized natural languageresponse includes responding to a question or statement from therecipient.
 6. The method of claim 5, in which providing a customizednatural language response to the input received from the recipientincludes forming a response to the question or statement based on one ormore of (a) one or more of the appearance of the person, the voice ofthe person, or the behavior of the person, (b) information about a timeperiod during which the person lived, or (c) autobiographicalinformation about the person.
 7. The method of claim 1, comprisinggenerating the message based on (a) the information characterizing theappearance, the voice, or the behavior of the person, (b) theinformation indicative of the content that is to be part of the message,or (c) both (a) and (b).
 8. The method of claim 1, in which receivingthe information indicative of an identity of the recipient includesreceiving a specification of the identity of the recipient.
 9. Themethod of claim 1, in which receiving the information indicative of thedelivery time includes receiving a specification of the delivery time.10. The method of claim 1, in which receiving the information indicativeof the delivery time includes receiving an identification of an event.11. The method of claim 1, in which receiving the information indicativeof the delivery time includes receiving a definition of a condition foroccurrence of an event.
 12. The method of claim 1, in which receivingthe information indicative of the content that is to be part of themessage includes receiving a specification of the content that is to bepart of the message.
 13. The method of claim 1, in which receiving thecontent that is to be part of the message includes receivingautobiographical information about the person.
 14. The method of claim1, comprising receiving information indicative of a manner of deliveryof the message.
 15. The method of claim 1, in which delivering themessage to the recipient includes delivering the message when the personis not alive or not competent.
 16. The method of claim 1, in whichreceiving the information indicative of the content that is to be partof the message, the identity of the recipient, and the delivery timeincludes receiving the information when the recipient is not alive ornot competent.
 17. The method of claim 1, comprising receiving at leastsome of the information characterizing one or more of the appearance,the voice, or the behavior of the person from the person.
 18. The methodof claim 17, in which receiving the information characterizing one ormore of the appearance, the voice, or the behavior of the personcomprises: presenting a question to the person and receiving an answerto the question from the person.
 19. The method of claim 17, in whichreceiving the information characterizing one or more of the appearance,the voice, or the behavior of the person includes conducting a naturallanguage interaction with the person.
 20. The method of claim 1,comprising conducting an automated analysis of publicly available onlineinformation to obtain at least some of the information characterizingone or more of the appearance, the voice, or the behavior of the person.21. The method of claim 1, comprising maintaining information about atime period during which the person lived, and in which providing thecustomized natural language response includes providing the customizednatural language response based on the information about the time periodduring which the person lived.
 22. The method of claim 1, comprisingmaintaining autobiographical information about the person, and in whichproviding the customized natural language response includes providingthe customized natural language response based on the autobiographicalinformation about the person.
 23. The method of claim 1, comprisingreceiving the input from the recipient.
 24. The method of claim 23,comprising delivering a portion of the message to the recipient prior toreceiving the input from the recipient.
 25. The method of claim 1, inwhich the customized natural language response comprises a response thatis prepared specifically for the recipient.
 26. The method of claim 1,in which the customized natural language response comprises a responsethat is prepared specifically in response to a question, statement, orrequest by the recipient.
 27. The method of claim 1, in which one ormore of the content, the identity of the recipient, or the delivery timeare inferred based at least in part on results of an automated analysisof publicly available online information.
 28. A method comprising:receiving (a) information characterizing one or more of an appearance, avoice, or a behavior of a person and (b) information indicative of arelationship between the person and a recipient; inferring an identityof the recipient based on the received information indicative of therelationship between the person and the recipient; and providing acustomized natural language response to an input received from therecipient, the providing of the response comprising using a digitalrepresentation of the person that is generated based on one or more ofthe appearance, the voice, or the behavior of the person, in which theperson is not alive or not competent when the natural languageinteraction is conducted.
 29. The method of claim 28, in which providingthe natural language response includes generating the natural languageresponse based on one or more of (a) one or more of the appearance, thevoice, or the behavior of the person, (b) information about a timeperiod during which the person lived, or (c) autobiographicalinformation about the person.
 30. The method of claim 28, comprisingdetermining a context of the natural language response based on one ormore of (a) one or more of the appearance, the voice, or the behavior ofthe person, (b) information about a time period during which the personlived, or (c) autobiographical information about the person.
 31. Themethod of claim 30, in which the context of the natural languageresponse includes a time at which the natural language response is to beprovided, a style of the natural language response, or both.
 32. Themethod of claim 28, comprising determining a content of the naturallanguage response based on one or more of (a) one or more of theappearance, the voice, or the behavior of the person, (b) informationabout a time period during which the person lived, or (c)autobiographical information about the person.
 33. The method of claim32, in which the content of the natural language response includesautobiographical information about the person.
 34. The method of claim28, in which the digital representation of the person includes arepresentation of one or more of the following: the voice of the person,the behavior of the person, or the appearance of the person.
 35. Themethod of claim 28, comprising receiving the input from the recipient.36. The method of claim 28, comprising receiving the informationindicative of the identity of the recipient when the recipient is notalive or not competent.
 37. A system comprising: a storage device formaintaining information characterizing one or more of an appearance, avoice, or a behavior of a person; and an analytics engine for: receivinginformation indicative of (a) content that is to be part of a message tobe delivered to a recipient on behalf of the person, (b) a relationshipbetween the person and the recipient, and (c) a delivery time fordelivery of the message, in which the content, the delivery time, orboth are not present in the received information, inferring one or moreof (i) the content based on the received information indicative of thecontent, including inferring at least some of the content at thedelivery time, (ii) an identity of the recipient based on the receivedinformation indicative of the relationship between the person and therecipient, or (iii) the delivery time based on the received informationindicative of the delivery time, and delivering the message to therecipient at the delivery time on behalf of the person, the messageincluding the content, the analytics engine configured to provide acustomized natural language response to an input received from therecipient, the providing of the response comprising using a digitalrepresentation of the person generated based on one or more of theappearance, the voice, or the behavior of the person.
 38. The system ofclaim 37, in which the analytics engine is configured to generate thedigital representation of the person for display on a user interface.39. The system of claim 37, in which providing a natural languageresponse to an input received from the recipient includes responding toa question or statement from the recipient.
 40. A system comprising: acommunication engine for receiving (a) information characterizing one ormore of an appearance, a voice, or a behavior of a person and (b)information indicative of a relationship between the person and arecipient; and an analytics engine for: inferring the identity of therecipient based on the received information indicative of therelationship between the person and the recipient, and providing acustomized natural language response to an input received from therecipient, the providing of the response comprising using a digitalrepresentation of the person that is generated based on one or more ofthe appearance, the voice, or the behavior of the person, in which theperson is not alive or not competent when the natural languageinteraction is conducted.
 41. The system of claim 40, in which theanalytics engine is configured to generate the digital representation ofthe person for display on a user interface.
 42. A method comprisingreceiving information from which at least one of the following can bederived: content of a message to be delivered from a first party to asecond party about a life event, a manner of delivery of the message, afuture time when the message is to be delivered, or the identity of thesecond party, in which the received information includes informationindicative of a relationship between the first party and the secondparty, in which the content, the future time, or both are not present inthe received information, inferring one or more of the content, themanner of delivery, the future time, or the identity of the second partybased at least in part on at least some of the received information,including inferring the identity of the second party based on thereceived information indicative of the relationship between the firstparty and the second party, automatically on behalf of the first party,forming, based on the received information and one or more of theinferred content or the inferred manner of delivery, an integrated,conversational multimedia message that is to be part of a customizednatural language dialog with the second party.
 43. The method of claim42, in which the integrated, conversational multimedia message isautomatically formed by an intelligent proxy on behalf of the firstparty.
 44. The method of claim 42, in which the integrated,conversational multimedia messages is formed to be responsive to naturallanguage communication received from the second party.
 45. The method ofclaim 43, in which the intelligent proxy enables a user to interact withonline services to obtain information related to the message.
 46. Themethod of claim 42, in which the automatic forming of the messagecomprises imbuing a digital surrogate with qualities associated with thefirst party, the manner of delivery of the message, the time of deliveryof the message, or the second party.
 47. The method of claim 42,comprising receiving the information interactively.
 48. The method ofclaim 47, comprising receiving the information by an interrogationavatar.
 49. The method of claim 42, comprising receiving the informationthe form of one or more of images, video, voice, or behavioral gesturesof the first party.
 50. The method of claim 42, comprising forming themessage in response to a conventionally asked question from the secondparty.
 51. The method of claim 42, in which the customized naturallanguage dialog comprises an interactive obituary or a digitized lifehistory of the first party.
 52. A method comprising maintaining digitalinformation that enables the formation of an interactive digitalsurrogate of an originating person based on digital audio or videoinformation derived from the originating person, inferring an identityof a receiving person based at least in part on information provided bythe originating person, the information indicative of a relationshipbetween the originating person and the receiving person, and at a timewhen the originating person is not alive or otherwise not available,causing the digital surrogate to engage in a customized natural languagedialog with the receiving person.
 53. The method of claim 52, in whichthe context of the natural language dialog is determined based oninformation that had been provided by the originating person.
 54. Themethod of claim 53 in which the context comprises the time of thenatural language dialog or the style of the natural language dialog. 55.A method comprising: maintaining information characterizing one or moreof an appearance, a voice, or a behavior of a person; receivinginformation indicative of (a) a relationship between the person and arecipient and (b) a delivery time for delivery of a message to bedelivered to the recipient on behalf of the person, in which thedelivery time is not present in the received information; inferring oneor more of (i) an identity of the recipient based on the receivedinformation indicative of the relationship between the person and therecipient or (ii) the delivery time based on the received informationindicative of the delivery time; and delivering the message to therecipient at the delivery time on behalf of the person, the deliveringincluding providing a customized natural language response to an inputreceived from the recipient, the natural language response comprising adigital representation of the person based on at least some of theinformation characterizing one or more of the appearance, the voice, orthe behavior of the person.